The venerable hobby of “games” has borne witness to innumerable robotic sprogs. Metallic Child attempts to be a definitive answer to the likes of Mega Man, Astro Boy and - most formidably of all - Mighty No. 9. We jest, of course. Inafune's infamous crowdfunded project (resulting in an incredibly mediocre game) isn't really competition for this one. We bring it up, though, because Metallic Child sort of reminded us of it. Wait, don't run off! We promise it's not a bad thing. You see, Metallic Child is an isometric Mega Man roguelite, as absurd as that sounds, with character designs that immediately bring Mighty No. 9 to mind. You pick a target, then head off into the game world to beat them up.
The roguelite elements are actually quite limited, to the point where we're not even sure if it's accurate to call it a roguelite. Rather than starting from scratch on every run, you'll only have one shot through to complete each level/dungeon; upgrades and boons found therein will be lost on death, but if you've cleared a level it will stay cleared. Arguably this very much stretches the roguelite definition; it's the use of randomised positive and negative stat changes that contribute to it. However, the risk of losing "time" is rather high, with each multi-floor stage taking a good hour or so to play through even at speed.
You see, you'll find "Cores" as you play through the game, which don't tell you their temporary function until you've installed them. As you've no doubt surmised, they could be good - add more damage to your attacks, etc - or they could be bad - reduce your movement speed, that sort of thing. The interesting wrinkle here comes from the fact that even the negative cores offer you valuable Bug Data that you can later spend on Super Cores, which remain active throughout your run.
Feedback is good and the controls are responsive. After picking a couple of weapons you'll head out into the dungeons (such as they are) and beat up enemy robots with absolute wanton violence. When using the "default" gauntlets you'll mash the Y button for standard one-two punches and hit A to perform a powerful uppercut that can launch enemies. You're also able to press X to grab enemies and throw them, which becomes an absolutely crucial part of your offensive toolset once you get used to it; launching opponents into walls stuns them long enough to deal some good damage, or flinging them directly into raging fires or other hazards will outright destroy them. You can dodge roll (or guard) using the L button, which makes for some taut, speedy and thrillingly close escapes.
Presentation is strong from the off, with a rather charming link to the player by means of the lead character, the unfortunately-named Rona, who communicates with you directly and instructing you on how you can help her. The view on your screen is also designed as though you are watching Rona through a camera, complete with "live" readout in the corner. It's a little thing, but it does lend a sort of verisimilitude to the anime-influenced proceedings. Movement is slick and feels polished, with a smooth 60fps framerate and clear, crisp picture quality even in handheld mode. Enemies and their projectiles also stand out over the scenery, so you won't find yourself dying due to muddy visuals as in a few other roguelites we've played (Curse of the Dead Gods, as good as it is, springs to mind). The soundtrack is quite good, too.
Metallic Child has all the ingredients, then, to be something of a stonker. And, in most regards, it is! As you move from room to room, it is undeniably fun and exciting to take on the myriad enemies, learn to dodge their attacks, explore the environments for lore tidbits, bonuses and upgrades and - ultimately - fight the rather spectacular and challenging bosses.
However, the combat is - effectively - the entire game. Every room you enter, as per Hades, will seal up and challenge you to batter its hostile inhabitants. The problem is, you beat them all in effectively the same way. While you can change weapons (including during combos), you're ultimately best off just spamming your throw attack, which seems to guarantee an S rank for each encounter. And that's OK - it's fun, for sure, but the environments don't vary much; though the solo developer has gone to the effort of making each area visually unique in some way, every stage is simply made up of larger rooms and corridors, with the occasional environmental hazard. It's not hugely inspiring in this respect, but the core gameplay is good enough that we could just about overlook it. Visual acuity is important, but so is variety.
Conclusion
Metallic Child delivers a compelling, dialogue-packed and seemingly fully-voiced quasi-roguelite anime adventure with quite some aplomb, and is certainly an impressive achievement from apparent solo dev Studio HG. The price is right and it's only some issues with repetitive gameplay that bring the title down a little. There's plenty to see and do and a meaty adventure to get stuck into, with "achievements" to unlock and permanent incremental upgrades to purchase with dropped currency as you smash your enemies to pieces. An impressive debut that's very clearly made by someone who understands how important feedback is to a game like this; it's a slick, exciting robot-smashing fest for your Switch.
Comments 26
I've been a bit curious about this one. Will leave it on the wish list and maybe pick it up at some point down the line if I have the time for it.
I'm sorry... I'm only here for the Sakuna crossover
I only want this for the Sakuna colab, but good to know the game is actually good as well.
SO glad this one is reviewing so well! I’m a massive roguelite (I’m sick of the genre tags too) fan and this one has VERY quickly become an all-time fave. Thing is, I don’t care about the long levels because I enjoy the hell out of the gameplay so to me that’s actually a benefit. Don’t sleep on this one folks, we want them to keep making more awesome games like this, and I promise- this one is worth your time.
Initially quite interested but lost interest because I can't stand roguelikes. Now this review pointed out that it might not be a repetitive grind fest, I'm a bit more interested again. My life is a rollercoaster of emotions right now.
Happy to see this get another good review. After seeing SwitchWatch's review a few days back, I saw some people questioning Jordan's high score. But at least NLife's review backs it up.
@moodycat I can promise you with 100% certainty that this game is VASTLY better than Zengeon. I played that for about 2 hours and said “nah”, but this one is top to bottom excellent. 🤘🏻
@Primarina And not low budget at all, it’s a gorgeous game and it runs flawlessly.🙌🏻
@Primarina Me too! I’m gonna stick with that for a while, unlock a bunch of stuff and then mess around with all the others. SUCH a rad game!
@StuartGipp
Although the isometric perspective obviously makes it different, I'm a little disappointed that you'd mention Mega Man and rogue-lite without bringing up the absolutely fantastic Mega Man-esque rogue lite, 20XX.
Sounds good. Already ordered the Asian physical and was waiting for it to arrive.
I was hoping it wasnt going to be like Ultra age (a bit of a dud that also ordered)
Can't wait! Got this physical on Play-Asia
Gatwdammit...again with the abundance of great games. I just started eastward. Enjoying this zelda-like game, very much. Now this comes out? ARRGGH!!
@PhhhCough Yeah, I’m playing both at the same time. And like 5 others, AND Diablo 2 drops on Thursday lol. 😂🙌🏻
Is there a jump?
@GhostGeneration DAMN YOUS!! Diablo II for the switch, for the win!
@BlubberWhale Yeah, it’s fantastic. It’s a completely rad game.
@PhhhCough I’m stoked, took Thursday AND Friday off for the occasion!
You had me at anime, Rougelike, and sakuna!
Just played the demo on switch and then bought the steam version. Is a lot of fun too.
@Kiwi_Unlimited Sorry! I agree, that is an obvious point of reference and 20XX is indeed very good. Hoping that the sequel (30XX) hits Switch, too.
@StuartGipp
Lol, thanks!
I've actually been holding off on 30XX with hopes to see it hit switch.
Sounds like good for a bash.
Very cool. I’m excited to pick it up and give it a try. Love the art style. One of the nice features I heard about was that the difficulty has a lot of options to choose from, including easy and ‘story,’ complete with an invincibility/Toad’s golden mushroom option that makes it accessible too.
The random upgrades/downgrades, isometric design, and long levels without checkpoints kill any interest I would otherwise have in this game. Each of those things is an example of lame and/or archaic game design that doesn't belong in modern gaming.
For example, isometric levels only make sense in beat 'em ups, strategy RPGs, and as a means of faking 3D environments on earlier systems. Otherwise, there's no reason that modern games shouldn't just use true 3D environments with proper right angled movement!
You had me at "more potent progression".
Nothing worse than a roguelite that does not respect your time.
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